This blog has been reporting on a number of bailout applications around Virginia.  One thing that unites all of the bailouts, whether they be in Fredericksburg, Bedford County or Manassas Park is that they all involve the same lawyer, Gerry Hebert.  Pajamas Media has this posting at P.J. Tatler about that particular lawyer, and how the taxpayers once had to pay $86,000 in sanctions in a case.  Paging Frank Jones and Tom Tomazk.

What is interesting is how the bailout applications seem to be requiring terms which the law does not require.  In the case discussed at P.J. Tatler, the court ruled about the DOJ case:

A properly conducted investigation would have quickly revealed that there was no basis for the claim that the Defendants were guilty of purposeful discrimination against black voters…Unfortunately, we cannot restore the reputation of the persons wrongfully branded by the United States as public officials who deliberately deprived their fellow citizens of their voting rights.  We also lack the power to remedy the damage done to race relations in Dallas County by the unfounded accusations of purposeful discrimination made by the United States.

We can only hope that in the future the decision makers in the United States Department of Justice will be more sensitive to the impact on racial harmony that can result from the filing of a claim of purposeful discrimination.  The filing of an action charging a person with depriving a fellow citizen of a fundamental constitutional right without conducting a proper investigation of its truth is unconscionable.

United States v. Jones, 125 F.3d 1418, 1431 (11^th Cir. 1997).

“The GOP’s Redistricting Dilemma.”  Here.

“Democrats are pioneering new ways to collect big, unregulated donations for redistricting expertise and legal challenges. A growing redistricting reform movement, coupled with a spike in public interest, has given civil rights groups fresh tools with which to engage. And for the first time in decades, voting rights questions will land before a Democratic-appointed Justice Department.”

Of course National Journal’s conclusion isn’t entirely accurate.  States can go to district court to have plans approved, a choice which has served Georgia well on other matters recently.  Texas is also considering going straight to court and bypassing DOJ.  The same choice is available with redistricting plans.

Now that Justice David Prosser appears to have beaten JoAnne Kloppenburg, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin wants a federal investigation by the DOJ Public Integrity Section. 

Indianapolis Star.

Denver Post: “But just when you think this must be electoral fraud, Nate Silver, the statistical guru at The New York Times’ fivethirtyeight blog, says everyone should take a breath. He has run the numbers and sees incompetency rather crime.”

This sounds like another Tova Wang 48 hours after the election pronouncement that no fraud took place.  Perhaps there is a third option: incompetency plus?

Latest at PJ Tatler.

“While Texas talks and Virginia flinches, Georgia has been acting.  Thanks to savvy Georgia election lawyers, the peach state has pushed back against DOJ over and over again in the last year.  When DOJ objected to Georgia’s citizenship verification program, Georgia sued.  They just didn’t sue, they challenged Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional (the law that forces states to seek federal approval for election changes.)  What did DOJ do?  Capitulate entirely, and quickly.  Just within the last few weeks, it happened again.  Facing difficulty getting the regulations which implement citizenship verification approved, Georgia once again sued in United States District Court.  What did DOJ do?  Capitulate again.”

More at PJ Tatler.

“After the holocaust of bigotry that forms our sordid past, these puerile charlatans are telling us the only way to form a decent government is to reinstitute segregation and carve up our population into unnatural racial districts so foolish political overseers can continue to exploit our ignorance without having to sell their snake oil to someone who wasn’t raised on the exact flavor they were.”

Louisiana redistricting.

Here.

HispanicOhio.
“Also, the elections board will hire an additional temporary elections worker who is bilingual and add an option to its phone system that will direct callers to a Spanish-speaking employee.  Absentee ballots will now include instructions in Spanish, although the ballots mailed out to voters will remain entirely in English. Finally, Adams said, each polling place in the county will be given a log book so poll workers can log issues dealing with Spanish-speaking voters. Adams said the log book was suggested by the elections board, which wants to more directly pinpoint where the Spanish-speaking voters are. To determine where there are a large percentage of Spanish-speaking voters, the Justice Department examined the voting rolls for people with Hispanic surnames.”